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Conference: Annual meeting of Society of Neuroscience Abstract: Multisensory integration is driven by a process of sensory reweighting during which each input is assigned a weight depending on the current functional state of a particular sensory system, the task itself and the context in which it is being performed. The primary aim of this study was to determine which of the two inputs between ankle proprioception and vision is upweighed during a postural control task when the two inputs provide conflicting information pertaining to direction of body sway. Achilles tendon vibration and visual flow were used to create sensory conflict, which produced center of pressure (COP) sway in opposite directions when applied independently. The baseline conditions (1) consisted of eyes open quiet stance condition, eyes closed with vibration applied on the Achilles tendons (2) and eyes open with visual flow (3). The experimental condition simultaneously combined vibration and visual flow. COP excursions were recorded in 10 healthy young adults to evaluate the magnitude and direction of sway produced by vibration and/or visual flow. Additionally, lower body joint kinematics were evaluated to understand the multi-segmental strategies and their adaptation to the various sensory manipulations. The results showed that visual flow moderated the extent of backward COP and ankle angular displacement produced when vibration was applied independently. Additionally, visual flow was also found to reduce the extent of predominant hip strategy generated by ankle vibration. The findings show that visual input plays a significant role in maintaining stability and that ankle proprioception is downweighed during conflicts between vision and proprioception. This has important implication for balance training using controlled visual flow in patients with balance disorders and elderly.Listed In: Biomechanics, Neuroscience, Posturography, Tagged In: multisensory integration, Postural control, sensory conflict, tendon vibration, visual flow